Not Winning, Not Caring
by boxyninjaa
Summary: Atlanta's sick of Archie's overprotectiveness and demands to know why he cares so much about her personal life. Oneshot Archie and Atlanta, tiniest bit of Jay and Theresa


**Disclaimer: I do not own Class of the Titans or any of the characters. **

**Just an Archie/Atlanta oneshot. After watching the episode "Applet of Discord" I was wondering why Atlanta hadn't called Archie out on the whole "She's MY territory" thing. It seemed unlike her, so I wrote this to satisfy myself :P Oh and about the swearing...well they're teenagers! And I can't imagine someone as hot-headed as Atlanta NOT swearing from time to time. Not in a pottymouth way, just to give justice to how angry she gets sometimes. So don't get mad at me for that!**

"That'sssss it…Classsss dissmissssed. And remember…give peaccce a chance."

All seven heroes stood up, muttering exactly what they thought of the little anger management classes now that Harmony's serenity and love had started to fade from their minds.

"Atlanta! Hold up!" Archie yelled out to his red-headed friend. Atlanta had gotten up and made a bee-line for the exit as soon as the session had finished, but stopped and turned at the sound of someone calling her name.

"What do you want Archie? I've kinda got somewhere to be." With her hand rubbing the back of her neck, it was clear that Atlanta didn't exactly want to say what her plans were.

Archie's face fell, "Oh…uh...sorry...I was just gonna ask if you wanted to go boarding. I found this awesome place yesterday where people dump their old furniture and it happens to make an excellent obstacle course." However, his grimace disappeared at the thought of his newfound playground.

"Sorry Arch. Sounds awesome but I'm going to have to pass on that offer. We'll go another time, 'kay?" And without waiting for a response, Atlanta bolted.

"Don't worry Archie, she'll go out with you someday." The supposed-to-be sympathetic pat on the back that Harry gave his friend ended up causing Archie to stumble and fall to the ground at the same moment Neil walked by. He looked up from his mirror to see what he assumed was Archie bowing down to him.

"Archie…I want you to listen. Okay, no, wait first you can get up. I know that my face is almost too brilliant to look at, but I've known for a long time that it's not ME you worship. And I don't know HOW exactly you mistook me for a red-headed midget but I strongly believe that that sort of assumption is highly insulting, considering that Atlanta IS a girl, after all and her HAIR..I mean, what a REVOLTING shade of -"

Archie growled under his breath and shoved Neil aside with a scowl to gain access to the stairs, on which he stomped angrily until reaching the top. The sound of a door slamming could be heard as far as the parking lot, where Atlanta was getting in a car with her date.

*****

"You know, I really think this whole Atlanta crisis has really got Archie all stressed. Maybe you guys should just back off him for a while, like let him figure it out on his own?"

Jay was quick to voice a similar opinion. "I think Theresa's right…no more bothering Archie okay Harry? Neil?" After a quick nod from Harry and a reluctant one from Neil, he continued. "We need everyone's minds to be solely focused on our mission. Now is not the time for-" He glanced quickly at Theresa, "-distractions."

Neil, however, was not won over with Jay's repetitive speeches on saving the world. While polishing his mirror with the edge of Odie's shirt (after all, HIS was cashmere!) he complained, "Oh come on! It's always so dramatic with you Jay! It's Cronus twenty-four seven and my hair is definitely taking it hard. You gotta relax buddy. Go sailing or take Theresa on a date. Just do something that you've been putting off forever."

Both Jay and Theresa flushed with embarrassment and tried to hide their faces.

Odie finally added his own piece to the conversation. "Hey, you said Archie and Atlanta were off-limits. Never said anything 'bout you two." He and Harry snickered away.

With an inaudible sigh of disappointment Theresa slipped out of the room, determined to talk to Atlanta about the negative products of cluelessness.

*****

"What do you mean, I'm making a mistake?!" Atlanta swiveled in her chair to glare challengingly at Theresa.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. I'm just saying that maaaaaybe this Eric guy isn't, you know, the right one? I'm sure there are more…obvious…choices. Like, well what do you think about…Archie? You two are always together anyways."

After a burst of giggles, Atlanta responded, "Archie? Gods, I thought you had a bit more sense than Harry or Neil. They're the ones who usually make smart remarks about Archie, but they're not serious you know? Just like when they tease Jay about you or vice-versa. It's not like they're _seriously_ implying that there is any sort of possibility of romance between the two of you."

_Ouch._

"Ahhhh. Um, well actually I sort o-"

"I mean COME ON. Jay's only obsessed with catching Cronus, and I might just see a bit of a man-crush there. Just saying. "

Theresa countered, "Uh-huh. Fine. Say whatever you want to, but that doesn't change the fact that you're too clueless to see that Archie-

The huntress smacked her palm to her forehead and sprung into action at the reminder of her best friend. She frantically searched for her skateboard.

"Damnit! Archie! I completely forgot! I promised him that we could go boarding after my date."

"You TOLD him you were going on a date and he LET you go?" The surprise on Theresa's face was evident.

"Errr - no. Not really. I just said I had somewhere to go. But either way, what he doesn't know won't kill him."

Theresa scoffed, "Yeah well, you'd be surprised."

"Pffft. Whatever…I'll see you later 'Resa. I think it's movie night tonight anyway."

Atlanta pulled on one shoe and hopped out the door while trying to put on the second. Just after her petite frame had disappeared, her head shot back in to add a "And don't pick such a sappy movie this time, 'kay? The amount of tears you produce is enough for Archie to run screaming from the couch."

Theresa rolled her eyes good naturedly and decided that talking to Atlanta was as pointless as trying to hint her feelings to Jay.

Downstairs, Archie could be found flipping listlessly through channels and grumbling to himself about the lack of channels and not being able to ask Odie for a video game since Odie was out on a _date._

"One day he'll be sorry for leaving me stranded like this while he gets to go out on a stupid _date_," he muttered while passing a talk show dealing with rejection and friendships. "Go away Oprah." And he clicked her face away.

A small wad of paper hit him in the face and he opened it to reveal a message.

"_Hi dork."_

He looked up to see Atlanta smiling at him from the staircase, skateboard clutched under her arm. Archie grinned, his mood already lifted by the bouncing energy of the girl he loved.

"So you gonna show me this obstacle course or not?"

"Depends," Archie shrugged as if it didn't really matter to him whether they went or not.

"On what?" Atlanta eyed him suspiciously.

"On whether or not you're willing to admit that I completed the training challenge faster than you today."

This time, it was a book that was flung at his face.

"You know that I would've disarmed Jay if you hadn't gone completely insane and _attacked _him!"

"He was HITTING ON YOU!"

"What the hell are you talking about? He was HELPING me!"

"Was not." Arms crossed and eyebrows drawn, Archie was choosing the wrong time for being stubborn. Atlanta's eyes were narrowed dangerously, she was sick of having Archie make a fuss over every single guy in her life that wasn't him.

"Okay stupid, that's it. JAY!"

Jay entered the room, saw two fuming teenagers and promptly exited.

"Jay! Come back! Tell the idiot here that you were NOT hitting on me! Ja-ay!"

Archie was not impressed. "Careful, Atlanta. Being impolite to your boyfriend won't get you anywhere," he joked darkly.

Atlanta's face darkened with rage. She stepped forward, jabbed her finger in his chest, and looked up at him with fire in her eyes.

"Archie, I'm sick of you doing this all the time! As you may remember, I'm not your 'territory' so BACK OFF! There is NOTHING between me and Jay, and you know why? BECAUSE I'M DATING SOMEONE ELSE SO SHUT UP ALREADY!"

The room was silent except for the sound of Atlanta's skateboard dropping to the floor. Her eyes started to water, an indication that this fight was beyond anything that they'd gone through already.

"I'm just so _tired_ of you always bringing my personal life up. Why does it fucking _bother_ you so much? Just like with Pan! What? Do you _not_ want me to have a social life? Huh? Archie?" Her teary eyes searched his for a reason to let him off the hook. She didn't want to do this to her friend, but she had to bring all of this to an end.

Archie's face fell when he realized what he needed to say, the exact words that would destroy her in this argument. He couldn't tell her now, not after she had just told him she was seeing someone else. "I-I-I… It's just…Well, I mean…I care about the wellbeing of my friend?"

"No Archie. There's only so long I can pretend that that excuse is enough. Unless you can give me a real reason, consider me gone."

The power of words is great, and Atlanta's words made the warrior crumble inside. He was supposed to be immune to disease, so surely he had lost part of that invulnerability, because there was no way that the feeling of something splitting his heart was anything other than a life-threatening illness that would cause him to collapse to the floor any second. It had to be a sickness. Because if it wasn't, then there was no hope for a cure.

He didn't notice when Atlanta left him. He didn't notice when Jay came into the room and called Herry to come and carry him to his bed. He didn't notice when Odie suggested that maybe they should just leave him there. He didn't notice when even Theresa seemed to be showing signs of sympathy for him, or even when Neil actually put down his mirror to look at someone else other than himself. The only thing he noticed was when the comforting warmth of sleep overtook him.

*****

The next few days were spent awkwardly. With Archie always sprawled on the couch in the living room, there was no way for anyone to have access to the TV. Atlanta never went in the living room, no matter how much Theresa begged her to.

There came a day when Jay invited everybody to go sailing on his boat. Of course, Archie never moved. Theresa, Odie, Neil, and Theresa all accepted Jay's offer. Atlanta was out running.

She came back to a quiet house.

"Theresa?" she called. "Herry? Jay? Odie?" And finally, in desperation, "Neil?"

All she got back was silence. And then, her huntress ears heard a slight groan from the kitchen. She seriously considered going right back outside, but she was thirsty and decided to face the inevitable.

"Got any water?" Atlanta asked quietly with an uncertain smile.

Archie just nodded and gave her the bottle that he had been about to open. "Last one."

"Oh…it's okay. You can have it; I'll just run to the store."

"No. You have it. You're thirstier."

"Uhhh…thanks." The sound of her gulping water was the only one. "You want some?"

"No, no. It's fine. I'm going to watch some TV." His mouth was still open after he finished talking, as if to add something more, but he stopped himself. Atlanta turned to leave with her water.

"You want to watch with me?"

"Sure," she answered. Her face looked wary, but there was no doubt that Atlanta had missed her friend almost as much he had missed her. Her eyes brightened as he gestured for her to come to the living room.

"You can sit on the couch – I don't take up _that_ much space," Archie remarked sarcastically before he could stop himself. It was too easy to be comfortable around Atlanta, he warned himself to be careful.

Archie wasn't the only one with a sudden lack of self-control. Atlanta gave a small snort of laughter and lifted herself off the floor to sit on the couch. The two heroes sat together, watching various things on TV before they agreed that there was nothing good on.

Atlanta couldn't help but notice how worn out Archie looked. His normally mischievous eyes had a look of exhaustion in them and his once adorable hair was-

_Wait. Adorable?_

She blinked rapidly a few times to free her mind. But in all honesty, he did look terrible. Guilt washed over her suddenly, as she realized that she had done this to him. Atlanta finally realized how much their friendship meant to him if he had fallen apart like this without it. And then she realized how depressed she herself had been for the few days without him.

_No. I'm strong. I'm independent. I told him off for being a jerk. He brought this upon himself._

But did he really? She quickly glanced at him once more. He really did care about her, that much was obvious. And she knew that she cared deeply about him as well. However, how far did her feelings go? She was suddenly aware of how much she depended on Archie for happiness.

"So, what'cha been up to 'Lanta?" Archie asked. He sounded casual but they both knew that this was a test question. _"Are you still mad?"_ he was asking.

"Not much, really." "_No, Archie. I'm just confused. Give me time."_

"Oh. Well how did the giant rally for Green Alliance go? Weren't you protesting the construction of a new factory down at the edge of town?"

"Yeah, it went well. They couldn't do anything with all the people in the way so they had to postpone building."

"That's great. Was…Eric…there?" He needed to know. It didn't matter if she never talked to him after this, but he needed to know if she really liked the guy.

Atlanta froze. Her fingers suddenly became busy in pulling a loose thread from the pillow she held in her lap. "He…Uh…I…We kinda, um, broke up. He told me that he didn't feel like I was really trying in our relationship." She didn't add that he had accused her of having feelings for Archie.

"Oh. Sorry for bringing it up," he lamely tried to apologize for his mistake.

Atlanta looked up. "No, it's okay. I don't think I really liked him anyways. I was just flattered that he asked me out."

"Why? Of course he would ask you. You're an awesome person, Atlanta." Archie gave her an encouraging smile, which Atlanta responded to with a smile of her own and silently mouthing a "thank you".

"Well, I'm going to go take a shower. See you later?"

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I believe it's movie night," Atlanta told him and got up to go to her own room.

"Cool. Well, save me a seat." And with that, Archie was gone.

*****

"I'm just saying that maybe, you've been repressing some sort of _feelings_ for him."

"I-I don't know. I really do care about him, but I don't want to risk anything. Especially when we've just gotten back on good, albeit awkward, terms."

"Listen, 'Lanta. The relationship between you two has already changed. It's going be tough to try and work back to where you were before, so might as well work forward and see where the future takes you. Don't be stuck in the past."

"But I liked the past. It's not fair."

"Well, you're the one who blew up at him. It's your move. Archie's probably too scared to do much right now."

Theresa looked over at the smaller of the two red-heads in the room and wondered if Archie would rise to the occasion. "All I'm saying is talk to him. Patch things up and see what happens."

A deep sigh. "Fine."

*****

Thankfully, Theresa had picked out a movie so full of car-chases, things blowing up and people shooting at each other that Archie was safe from puddles of tears. A quarter through the movie, Neil left to go prepare his nightly hair routine. Halfway through, Odie and Herry left to go play Odie's new video game in his room. Three quarters into the movie, Jay left to go see if he could ask Zeus about what remembered from Cronus attacks, to see if they could find any favourite moves or tactics he liked to use. With everyone gone, Theresa decided to give Atlanta the chance for that "talk" they'd been discussing earlier. After faking a yawn, she informed the last two heroes that she was tired and going to go sleep.

"You wanna finish the movie Arch'?"

"Nah, not really. It wasn't really that great."

Click.

_That's that. I gotta talk to him now. Find out things for myself for once._

"So what's up?" she asked cautiously.

"I don't know, not much I guess. Ares said he's going to show me some new moves for my whip tomorrow."

Atlanta was never one for smooth conversation so she jumped right into what she wanted to say.

"Archie, I really want to say sorry for blowing up at you like that," she said quietly, unable to look at his face." _There. My part's over. Now it's up to him._

Archie looked at her and then down at his hands. He was silent for a moment. It wasn't her fault at all! He was the one who had bothered her, pushing boundaries he knew he shouldn't have crossed. He had to make sure she knew that.

"Atlanta, you know you had every right to get mad at me. You obviously didn't want to tell me and I pushed you anyways. _I'm_ sorry."

"Yeah, but you just wanted to look out for me and I didn't have to get so angry. I'm not trying to make excuses for what I did, but I _was_ really confused about something."

Archie tilted his head, a question without words.

Atlanta sighed. She knew what he was asking. "I was confused about what it was that drove you to continually bring stuff like that up, but you made it clear that you didn't want to tell me. I mean I know you cared about me not getting hurt by a guy and everything, but even Theresa isn't that protective. Why do you have to make a big deal?"

The room grew quiet. She already knew that he wouldn't answer that.

"Listen Archie, I know you don't want to tell me…"

Oh, but he did. He ached to tell her that he was protective of her because he was so afraid that he might lose her. His heart burned with secret words and he was growing tired of restraining his mouth whenever he felt the urge to blurt out how he felt. Archie loved Atlanta, but she had brushed aside all the hints he had passed her. He was scared that she, such a fiery and independent person, might realize that maybe she didn't need him after all. And that was something he feared more than all the oceans in the world.

"…but that's exactly what makes us fight all the time and I don't want to keep putting up with that."

"So what are you saying 'Lanta?" he questioned her, with words pushing, bursting at the seams of his heart and wanting to tumble out of his mouth. It would be so simple to tell her right now.

Archie could see the uncertainty on Atlanta's face as she was tried to choose her words.

"Archie, I think it means we can't be friends anymore."

"Wha-WHAT?!"

"No…listen to me. It's not like that. I don't want to be friends anymore because-"

"No. No no no no no no NO! No way...I'm NOT letting this happen again. Atlanta, I love you."

"-I think I'm falling in love with you," Atlanta finished.

Someone shouted in the distance. Something about a lack of hydrating shampoo. Neil.

"Oh."

"Oh."

Archie's face seemed like it should've cracked with a smile that wide and Atlanta's eyes shone. But she was Atlanta and he was Archie and they were not a sappy couple.

"Okay, hold up. _I_ wanted to tell you first!" Atlanta whined with her arms crossed.

Archie continued grinning like an idiot, but his face also became playful. "Too bad. I said it first."

"Because you INTERRUPTED me!"

"Still counts."

"Does not!"

"Shut up 'Lanta." Archie held her face and looked at her seriously but his eyes said otherwise. Atlanta might have been the huntress, but it was Archie who had finally caught her. And caught her he did, with his lips placed firmly on hers. With his arms snaking around her to her back so that he could hold her to him.

For a second, Archie broke away to glance at her. He could not resist gloating. "You realize that you lost. To me."

"Shut up Archie," Atlanta told him as she pulled him back.

And that was the one time Atlanta didn't care about losing.

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review :D**

**i know i know...i just couldn't help adding the perfect kiss ending sort of thing...sorry if you don't like it :(**

**constructive criticism is appreciated...flamings are not.**


End file.
